Robert Asprin – Tambu

“I can see why you established the yearly captain’s meetings. That’s a lot of weight for anybody to carry alone. At least the meetings let you spread the responsibility around a little.”

“Yes and no. While the discussions are helpful, the final decisions are still mine. I’ve discovered that having additional viewpoints and opinions does not always ease the decision-making process. Then, too, I have to make independent decisions on things which arise between meetings.”

“Could you estimate a percentage split as to the number of decisions that come out of the meetings versus those that are made unilaterally?”

“No, I couldn’t. There have been so many decisions made over the course of my career that I literally couldn’t count them, much less divide them into categories. What’s more, the varying magnitude of the problems would make a numerical comparison meaningless.”

“I see. Well, how about decisions of major importance or impact? Would you have a feel for that?”

“I’m afraid the answer is still no,” Tambu replied, but more hesitantly. “I’ve never thought of decisions in numerical terms. If I correctly interpret the direction of your questioning, however, there was one specific major decision I recall having to make unilaterally. I also recall that it was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever had to make.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Tambu sat alone, slouched at his command console. The viewscreen display showed the starfields outside, but his eyes were directed at the cabin wall, unfocused and unfeeling.